Mathematics Last week, a friend of mine e-mailed me a paper. A problem that I tried to solve back in 1989 has finally been solved; it was the result of a lot of work by lots of smart people, and someone that I know (and like) finally solved the problem.

So the good: a nice person got it.
The bad: well, the effort it took to solve the problem was, well, out of reach for someone who makes a living teaching 12 hours of undergraduate, mostly lower division mathematics; much of it remedial. The people who made significant progress on the problem work in research positions.

Sure, they are smarter than I and their course loads often include a graduate class.

Yes, I have a job and many others don’t. But there is, well, a deep seated “sigh” and a bit of remorse that I didn’t do better (and land at least a research post-doctoral position).

I can’t do anything about that now, but I can quit blogging for today and get to work on a paper that I should send out in the next couple of weeks! 🙂

Walking
From time to time, people comment on runners (or walkers) who either greet or don’t greet others. So yesterday, I made it a point to see what I do. So here is the full truth:

In all cases I move well to the opposite side of the path/road and

1. If the person coming the other way is walking for exercise or running, I usually smile and nod…well maybe grimace if I am toward the end of a long workout.

2. If the person has a dog, I don’t even make eye contact; I really hug “my” side of the path/road.

3. Same if the person is pushing a stroller or if it is someone just strolling or, say, a couple holding hands. I look away and down and don’t make eye contact.

I am not seeking approval of how I react; I am merely making a report. I don’t know if this is a “big city” habit (“mind your own frigging business!”) or it is because I am an introvert who doesn’t like people (except for those that I meet and get to know).

Workout notes Not sure; a yoga class then about 5-7 miles total of running and walking.

Society Atheists are not keeping as quiet as we used to. To be honest, I have no interest in converting (deconverting?) anyone unless they are unhappy where they are. All that I ask is that we make decisions based on the premise that things happen for naturalistic reasons; that is, don’t count on some fairy, pixie, deity or magic spell to alter chemistry, biology or physics on your behalf.

PoliticsThe Hill surveyed the United States Senators to see who is best at working across party lines. The answers may surprise you; one can be very liberal or conservative and still get along with the other Senators and work on stuff together.

What I sometimes forget is that the speeches are meant to fire people like myself up; the real working together often goes on behind closed doors. I was aware that Orin Hatch and Ted Kennedy are friends.

Robert Reich:gives President Obama a grade on his economic policies. It is a C-plus; read about why (President Obama was torched on the TARP stuff, but remember that started as a Bush program and, while Obama voted for it, he wasn’t in charge as to how it was implemented).

Note also that many liberal economists fault President Obama’s stimulus bill for being too small.

This is important right now, as public and private colleges and universities across the country reckon with shrinking endowments and tightening budgets. But this is also incredibly important for our future. As Vannevar Bush, who served as scientific advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt, famously said: “Basic scientific research is scientific capital.”

The fact is, an investigation into a particular physical, chemical, or biological process might not pay off for a year, or a decade, or at all. And when it does, the rewards are often broadly shared, enjoyed by those who bore its costs but also by those who did not.

That’s why the private sector under-invests in basic science – and why the public sector must invest in this kind of research. Because while the risks may be large, so are the rewards for our economy and our society.

No one can predict what new applications will be born of basic research: new treatments in our hospitals; new sources of efficient energy; new building materials; new kinds of crops more resistant to heat and drought.

It was basic research in the photoelectric effect that would one day lead to solar panels. It was basic research in physics that would eventually produce the CAT scan. The calculations of today’s GPS satellites are based on the equations that Einstein put to paper more than a century ago.

In addition to the investments in the Recovery Act, the budget I’ve proposed – and versions have now passed both the House and Senate – builds on the historic investments in research contained in the recovery plan.

We double the budget of key agencies, including the National Science Foundation, a primary source of funding for academic research, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which supports a wide range of pursuits – from improving health information technology to measuring carbon pollution, from testing “smart grid” designs to developing advanced manufacturing processes. And my budget doubles funding for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science which builds and operates accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, high-energy light sources, and facilities for making nano-materials. Because we know that a nation’s potential for scientific discovery is defined by the tools it makes available to its researchers.

But the renewed commitment of our nation will not be driven by government investment alone. It is a commitment that extends from the laboratory to the marketplace.

That is why my budget makes the research and experimentation tax credit permanent. This is a tax credit that returns two dollars to the economy for every dollar we spend, by helping companies afford the often high costs of developing new ideas, new technologies, and new products. Yet at times we’ve allowed it to lapse or only renewed it year to year. I’ve heard this time and again from entrepreneurs across this country: by making this credit permanent, we make it possible for businesses to plan the kinds of projects that create jobs and economic growth.

About Blueollie

To keep track of my sports activities. I rarely train for anything anymore; mostly I just do workouts of the following types: running, walking, weight lifting and swimming. My best ultra accomplishment was walking 101 miles in 24 hours in 2004. These days, I walk a marathon every once in a while (5:50 to 7 hours) There was a time when I could run a sub 40 minute 10K (did that once), but that was another lifetime ago; these a days 2427-282525:50-27:45 28-31 minutes for a 5K would be more like it. I also have an off and on interest in yoga and in weight training. My lifetime PB in the bench is 310; currently I do sets of 4-5 with 190 185.

Best this year has been 200 (relatively easy).

To discuss the football, basketball or baseball game I’ve been to. Since 2011, I started to attend live football games regularly (University of Illinois, sometimes Illinois State, sometimes either the Colts or Bears of the NFL…don’t get me started on the Rams) ; I’ve attended Bradley Basketball games (men and women) for some time. In the past 3 years, I started to watch live baseball again (mostly the Peoria Chiefs (low A affiliate of the Cardinals) and Bradley University; sometimes the Normal Cornbelters (Frontier League; similar to low A level ball).

From time to time, I post what I am thinking about mathematically

I often post links to science articles, especially articles about cosmology and evolution.

I am very sympathetic to the “new atheist” movement, though some might consider me to be an agnostic. I reject any notion of a deity that interferes with physical events, but remain agnostic to the idea that there might be something “grand and wonderful” (Dawkins’ phrase) outside of our current spacetime continuum.

I am a liberal Democrat who thinks that the current social atmosphere is tilted way too far toward the interests of big business, and I reject the idea that a “free market” cures all ills, though pure socialism doesn’t work either. I am also a believer in the freedom of speech, including speech that I might not like. Also, I’ve been involved (to a moderate degree) with political campaigns, ranging from City Council races up to Presidential races.

I like to post photos of trips and vacations.

I like women in spandex. 🙂

The 2016 election: I voted for Hillary Clinton and was dismayed that she lost the Electoral College, though I take a bit of comfort that a plurality of voters preferred her (by just over 2 percentage points!)

I see Donald Trump as an unqualified amateur who lacks the humility and deportment to be an effective president; I sure hope the time proves me wrong. It does not appear that I am wrong though (as of June, 2018) I’ve been wrong before (e. g. my election prediction) and will be wrong again. I hope this is one of those times.